Maui: Humpbacks & "Honu"s

Almost all the coastal cities in USA have "Whale Watching" rides where you get on a boat and go deep in to the ocean to watch the whales during their north-south-north migration every year. In Maui,  we were watching the whales everyday, right from the shores. It is an awesome sight to watch these 45 feet long mammals, weighing 45 tons, breach the water and fall back in to the ocean, making massive splashes.

Humpback Whales:

The North Pacific Humpback whales, start from Alaska around September, travel around 3000 miles in 2 months and call Hawaii as their home from December to May. A group of these whales visit California and Baja California (Mexico). The Humpbacks visit south mainly for breeding and birthing. It is interesting to know that they don't eat in the warm tropical waters and eat only the Krill fish in the icy cold waters of Alaska. Each year, thousands of whales make this 6000 miles round-trip! 

Breaching:  The whale leaps up from the water,
does a 180 degree turn andlands on its back
with a huge splash.

The Humpback doing a "Fluke up Dive"

The huge splash after a whale's breaching.

Honu:

The Hawaiian Sea Turtle is called as Honu by the natives. These turtles are 4 to 5 feet in length and stay close to the shores. Two of these turtles were always hovering near our condo and we were hoping they would get out of the waters - but they never did!

The Turtle picture you often see in a Hawaiian Shirt

Maui, India :))

Hawaii is closer to the "Tropic of Cancer" and I definitely expected Maui to be very tropical. But, in many, many ways Maui exceeded that expectation and took me closer to home! As we pulled out  of the airport with the rental car, the first thing that caught my attention was a chicken running across the road!  :))

Sugarcane fields

Sugarcane fields:
The flight from San Diego started its descent slowly with a beautiful view of long stretches and squares and squares of Sugarcane fields. Maui has a long history of Sugarcane farming and it is still a major activity.


Sugar Cane  Juice:
Everyday, we were drove by this juice stand/van at the side of the road. One day, I pulled over and ordered the Sugarcane juice.When the lady asked me if I would  like to have a dash of Ginger and Lime with it, I was instantly transported to our village, Kattalaicherry!!! Decades ago, one summer, Sekar, Shankar, Visu,Mani, Govinda, Selvi anni, Jamuna akka and Latha got in to bullock carts and made a trip to Kattalicherry village.

Waiting for Sugar Cane juice!

The workers in Chinna Thatha's farm were making அச்சு  வெல்லம், squeezing the Sugarcanes using a hand cranked machine, boiling the juice and pouring it over small rectangle wholes made in huge wooden planks. Chinna Thatha asked the workers to add lime juice and ginger juice to the freshly squeezed Sugarcane juice and we all drank it up. The Maui Sugarcane juice was good but in no way came closer to Kattalaicherry Sugarcane juice!!!

Shoe flowers:
The red, pink and yellow "shoe flowers" ( செம்பருத்தி ) in Maui reminded me of the செம்பருத்தி tree we had in the backyard of our old home in Koranad. As a kid, I used to pluck these flowers and bring them in and Thatha would use them for his daily pooja.

Banyan Tree:

Right in the center of the busy shopping area of the town of Lahaina, there is a huge Banyan tree. This Banyan tree is a gift from India to the "Lahaina Protestant Mission" and was planted by the local sheriff on April 24th, 1873. This tree, tagged as the biggest Banyan tree in USA,  has spread out with multiple roots and is a huge attraction to Maui visitors. It was really interesting to know that during Christmas holidays, the whole tree is decorated with colorful lights!

Mangoes:
 Mango tress were all over Maui.  Just like back home, we saw Mango trees in parking lots, in home gardens, while driving by and in the fields of the Buddhist,  Jodo mission in Lahaina.

Road side stalls selling Mangoes, Papayas and Sugarcane.

Banana Flower:
Who doesn't like the yummy Banana flower curry!!! Sheila was about to steal this...but she realized that Hawaii airport folks check for smuggled agricultural products before boarding the plane and dropped the idea :))

Coconut:
On our day on "The road to Hana", we passed through many small villages with road side stalls selling food, flowers, papayas, mangoes and coconuts. At one of the shops, we enjoyed sweet coconut water from fresh and huge tender coconuts. The guy selling the coconut said he never gives drinking straws and we drank it straight up!!!

With Sugarcane, Shoe flowers, Banyan tree, Mangoes, small Bananas, Banana flowers, Coconuts, Palm tress, Papayas, Pineapples and huge Croton plants we all felt at home at Maui!!!